Boren said Tuesday he won't be endorsing Obama.

(CNN) — On the same day Democratic leaders stressed party unity after the drawn out primary fight, one congressional Democrat said Tuesday he will not endorse Barack Obama's bid for the White House.

Rep. Dan Boren, Oklahoma's lone Democrat in Congress, told the Associated Press Obama is "the most liberal senator," and said he has to listen to the wishes of his own constituents.

"We're much more conservative," Boren said of his rural district which stretches across the eastern part of the state and borders Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Texas.

"I've got to reflect my district. No one means more to me than the people who elected me. I have to listen to them," Boren added. His congressional office confirmed the accuracy of the quotes to CNN.

Boren also said Obama's record "does not reflect working in a bipartisan fashion." But the Oklahoma Democrat said he would vote for Obama at the party's convention in August because of the serious issues the country faces.

"I think this is an important time for our country," he said. "We're facing a terrible economic downturn. We have high gasoline prices. We have problems in our foreign policy. That's why I think it's important."

Watch: McCain and Obama go on the attack

Boren's comments come a day after Florida Democratic Rep. Tim Mahoney also said he has no plans to make a formal endorsement. The freshman Democrat, who replaced Republican Rep. Mark Foley following House page scandal, told the Palm Beach Post he plans on remaining an uncommitted superdelegate and may not even attend the convention.

Full story

Clyburn has been critical of former President Bill Clinton.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Several sources tell CNN that House Majority Whip and superdelegate James Clyburn of South Carolina will endorse Senator Barack Obama Tuesday.

Clyburn, whose congressional district went overwhelmingly for Obama in the state's January primary, had said that he would wait to weigh in on the presidential race until the last nominating contest had been held. Earlier this spring, he had made remarks critical of Bill Clinton, calling his conduct on the trail "bizarre," and telling interviewers that some of the former president's actions had deeply upset African-Americans.

"There are African-Americans who have reached the decision that the Clintons know that [Hillary Clinton] can’t win this," he told Reuters. "But they’re hell-bound to make it impossible for Obama to win.”

McCain and Pelos reacted to the president's speech.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Speaker Nancy Pelosi blasted President Bush's comments Thursday suggesting that Democrats believe "we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals" and suggested Senator John McCain denounce them.

But the presumptive Republican nominee himself defended the remarks, said he intended to make Barack Obama’s willingness to consider dialogue with Iran an issue in the fall campaign, calling on the Illinois senator to “explain [that decision] to the American people.”

“It is a serious error on the part of Senator Obama that shows naiveté and inexperience and lack of judgment — to say that he wants to sit down across the table from an individual who leads a country who says that Israel is a stinking corpse, that is dedicated to the extinction of Israel,” said McCain Thursday. “My question is, what does he want to talk about?”

Pelosi, who is leaving later today on a bipartisan congressional trip to Israel, said there is a "protocol" of not criticizing the President when he is abroad, but then declared, "I think what the president did in that regard is beneath the dignity of the office of president and unworthy of our representation at that observance in Israel."

The California Democrat added that she hopes "any serious person would disassociate themselves from the president's remarks, who aspires to leadership in our country."

Read the rest of this entry »

Rove left the White House in 2007.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – A House committee Thursday asked former White House political adviser Karl Rove to testify about allegations that Bush administration officials pushed for federal prosecutions of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman and other Democrats.

House Judiciary Committee leaders said it is "imperative" that Rove answer allegations that he pressed the Justice Department to investigate Siegelman, a Democrat who when indicted was preparing a rematch against Alabama's Republican governor in 2006.

"We look forward to scheduling an early date for your voluntary appearance," the committee's Democratic leaders wrote in a letter released Thursday.

Rove's lawyer, Robert Luskin, said Thursday that President Bush's onetime political mastermind "absolutely denies he was in any way involved in the decision to prosecute Don Siegelman." Luskin said he has had no direct communication the the Judiciary Committee's staff or its chairman, Rep. John Conyers, D-Michigan, and said the White House would have to decide whether Rove will be able to testify.

Read the rest of this entry »